Trifoliate Oranges

The trifoliate oranges are a type of citric fruits that come from Asia. They are very close relatives of typical oranges, but they look more like an aged lemon when fully grown. They present lots of wrinkles on their greenish yellow skin, so many and in such a way that the unaccustomed buyer might regard them in a hypermarket as rotten juiced –out lemons.

The tree that grows these fruits belongs to the citric family and it’s very popular in China, Korea and Japan. Some refer to them as bitter oranges, because of the huge quantities of acids and enzymes they contain that return a very bitter taste. The trifoliate orange tree is not a demanding tree. It can grow very well in temperate or cold climates, as opposed to his other citric family relatives. Even snow and heavy rains are tolerated by this tree. The high tolerance of this tree makes it useful when trying to combine citric trees in order to obtain a more resistant type of oranges, grapefruits or other assortments. Many producers grow other fruit trees on the base support of roots coming from the trifoliate orange tree.

Its unique form and leaves make it easily recognizable. The trifoliate oranges grow from pollinated white and pink flowers. The tree or sometimes, in very wild climates, shrub, presents oddly shaped leaves, divided in three parts: a longer middle leave and 2 smaller surrounding ones.

We can use the leaves of the trifoliate oranges to spicy the air in a room, because if crushed they surround the ambient with a mild pleased smell. Chinese use leaves and the fruit peal to spice up foods, as they are already known as great condiments.

If one wants to actually eat a trifoliate orange, they will be oddly surprised by the unusually bitter taste. They are very very very bitter, and can not be compared in bitterness to any other edible food. This is why no one eats them fresh. Also, if eaten fresh, they might be harmful to the stomach because of their high count of acids.

Trifoliate oranges are eaten only after being prepared. Some make jams, marmalade, others sweeten the fruits with sugar and boil them in water for half hour, then leave them to get completely dried. Fruits that are preserved this way can be later used as cake toppings or patisserie flavorings.

Although they are edible, the trifoliate oranges are usually used to ornament gardens, to spice up rooms or other environments, but their most popular use is to serve as rooting for other citric trees that are required to grow and normally develop in colder locations.